THE GNEISS PROVINCE 303 



cession of pleasing and attractive scenery; it consists of great areas 

 without much contrast — vast regions of one physiographic type that pall 

 on the traveler as he journeys over them. 



The gneiss is coarse-grained, extremely foliated, and exhibits rather 

 remarkable uniformity of structure wherever it is found; the foliation 

 trends quite uniformly north-northwest south-southeast. The foliation 

 and the coarse character of the rock indicate that the original topography 

 was mountainous, but the mountains have been removed, for the earliest 

 of the existing surfaces is a distinct peneplain. This early or first cycle 

 surface is found on the Kapiti plains at an elevation of 5,300 feet. To 

 the eastward the second cycle is well advanced and its surface lies 2,000 

 or -2,500 feet below the level of the first cycle surface. The original 

 plateau represented by this higher surface apparently reached its culmi- 

 nation in the region of the present Eift Valley. It had seemingly gentle 

 slopes eastward and steeper ones to the west. These slopes are inferred 

 from the fact that the vast lava extrusions in the neighborhood have 

 flowed both eastward and westward from the Eift region. 



The original height of the plateau must have been from 8,000 to 10,000 

 feet, judging from altitudes now remaining as remnants on the Kinakop 

 and Mau portions of the plateau. 



VALLEYS AND DIVIDES 



On the eastern border of the gneiss belt the physiography is not mate- 

 rially different from the region immediately preceding it. It is at the 

 outset a level, monotonous region of small relief, with broad, shallow, 

 flat-floored valleys and ravines. 



The country is all slopes, and every drop of rain that falls has some 

 long debris-laden incline at hand down which it may travel, but there are 

 no sharply incised stream valleys. The existing valley floors and sides 

 are covered with thick alluvial soil, for the most part, and aggradation 

 is effective as a topography-maker. 



MONADNOCKS 



Beginning in the region of Maungu and extending to Kiu, monadnocks 

 are a feature of the physiography ; they are typically shown in the region 

 of Voi. In general the gneiss residuals are ridges which lie parallel to 

 the foliation of the gneiss. Some of the monadnocks have steep and 

 precipitate sides; in some cases they are evidently fault-scarps; in other 

 instances the slopes are gentle, consisting of talus slopes with slightly 

 concave surfaces which lead away from the residuals to the general level 



